Written by former Senate education staffer and journalist Alexander Russo, This Week in Education covers education news, policymakers, and trends with a distinctly political edge. (For archives prior to January 2007, please click here. For posts after November 2007, please click here.) Comments on this blog are now closed.

By Alexander Russo May 7, 2007 at 10:58 AM

A few DC insiders have written me saying that Sec. Spellings conspicuously left one name off the list when she basically hung out to dry all of those who were "responsible" for the Reading First fiasco at last week's EWA meeting: Beth Ann Bryan. Bryan, currently a lobbyist with Akin Gump, was a senior advisor to Paige and, according to some, was Spellings' plant in the Department and the contact person for Susan Neuman. Here she is, pictured with Sandy Kress right after the passage of NCLB. Maybe this is just more Austin-Houston feuding (talk about the Hatfields and the ...

By Alexander Russo May 7, 2007 at 10:25 AM

"As the police cleared the bodies from the Virginia Tech engineering building, the cell phones rang, in the eccentric varieties of ring tones, as parents kept trying to see if their children were O.K.," opens this searing reflection on violence and gun control Adam Gopnik in last week's New Yorker (Shootings)....

By Alexander Russo May 7, 2007 at 10:11 AM

Whistle-Blower [Jon Oberg] on Student Aid Is Vindicated NYT The whistle-blower’s story opens a window, lawmakers say, onto how the Bush administration resisted calls to improve oversight of the student loan industry. Lieberman: More education funding needed Ct Post For 100 percent of the nation's students to be proficient in reading and math as required by the No Child Left Behind law, the federal government has to cough up 100 percent of the funds it promised when it enacted the standards. An Angry Mother's Battle for Information Washington Post Many parents who complain about information blackouts after they report ...

By Alexander Russo May 6, 2007 at 11:55 PM

Posts Of The Week Work Smarter, Not Harder Spellings Denies Early Involvement In Reading First Campaign 2008 Education Shut Out (Again) During Debate What If Presidential Candidates Break Out Of The Mold? Can $60 Million Make A Difference? On The Hill Executive Privilege Over Reading First? Redacted Reading First Emails Head Start On The Move Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups, & Foundations Joe Williams Joins Newish Pro-Charter Group Think Tanks All Dressed Up & Nowhere To Go? Is The Education Trust Too Influential? Urban Education School-Level Control Still Under Attack Vallas To Run (Part Of) NOLA School System Who's Got The Best School & ...